


to be brave

by watergator



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Kid Scott, Pre-Series, kid stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: A fluffy one shot of Scott and Stiles meeting :)





	

Sometimes he wished he could disappear, that he wasn't so scared - but he tries, he puts on a brave face, for his dad, for the nurses, for his mom, for himself.  
He wants to be stronger and better and everything more than he was now, but he's only ten years old and he can't do much but cry when no ones around and sit quietly on the plastic hospital waiting room chairs.

It feels like the life has been sucked out of him, and he can't move - like his bones are heavy and his head is tired all the time, and he wonders that if just waiting in the hospital makes him feel like this, then how the hell does it make his mom feel?

He wishes he could be brave for his dad, he wants to be like him when he's older; smart and strong and brave.  
But it's when he wakes up at 3am from a nightmare that causes the scream to get caught in his throat and his pjs are clinging to his skin from the thin layer of sweat he produces, he creeps down the hall and into the kitchen because he hears a soft sobbing, and his brave, strong dad is at the kitchen table and the lights are low, and he's crying over a bottle of what looks like Jack Daniels, and Stiles wonders if he really is okay.

And he isn't, neither of them are but they're both brave. For mom. And every hospital visit makes his stomach twist in knots and his heart seems to slam against his chest, but he takes a deep breath, just to ease the pain for a second so he can be brave for her.

It's not until it gets really bad that Stiles lets his dad know that he can't be brave anymore. It's when she slaps him, backhanding him, knocking him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him, is the first time that he admits he can't be brave and that he doesn't know how to be.  
Stiles doesn't like to see his dad cry, he never has, but now as the two of them cry into each other, it's sort of comforting and sort of sad.

Now when he and his dad visit at the hospital he swings his legs off the red plastic chair, to occupy his mind, swinging in time with the numbers in his head, like counting sheep. A distraction.

And it was soon after that he found himself distracting himself more, distancing himself from the tragedy that was his dying mother, trying to find an outlet.  
It started off with walking down the halls, then reading medical boards, then exploring more of the hospital until an angry nurse would quickly return him back to his red plastic chair. It was things like these that made him momentarily forget about the hardships and sadness that lay in the hospital bed on the third floor.

Little did he know Scott McCall was going to be one of those distractions.

There was a bruise, on his ribs from where mom had thrown the frying pan at him. It wasn't her fault and he knew that, she'd never been violent before, but now it has exploded, like a growing fire she had become more and more dangerous, and with a ten year old son, it wasn't the wisest of choices to leave the two alone anymore.

So when Stiles had been dropped off back at his infamous red plastic chair, he hadn't been expecting another sad looking boy to be sitting in it.

Stiles stopped, clearly confused and curious as to who the stranger boy was. He cleared his throat and the boy looked up with round brown eyes, similar to his own, but his hair was a lot floppier and it looked neatly combed too, unlike Stiles'.

"Hi" Stiles said and the boy gave a small smile,

"Hello" he replied and Stiles took a step forward, 

"Why do you look so sad?" He asked, still moving forward, making the other boy shift in his seat,

He simply shrugged and Stiles breathed inwardly, he wasn't one got patience, and if some sad looking kid was sitting in his sad looking seat, he wanted to know what was up.

"My names Stiles" he smiled, and held out his hand.

The boy looked down at the extended offer, then back at up Stiles, and puzzling took his hand, 

"I'm Scott... is that your real name?"

Stiles smiled, shaking the boys hand,  
"No"

Scott nodded,  
"Oh, okay"

"You didn't answer my question" Stiles said after a beat of silence,

"It's nothing" Scott sighed quietly, fidgeting again, 

"It's okay to be sad" Stiles said matter of factly, making Scott look up at him in a confused manner,

"How come?" He asked quietly and unsure,

"Because my dad said so, and he's always right" Stiles smiled but the boy didn't smile back,

"Yeah well, not all dads are always right" Scott huffed and folded his arms against his chest, and looked away - and Stiles swore he could see the shimmering pool of tears brimming in his eyes,

"My dads gonna be the Sheriff you know" Stiles puffed out his chest proudly, even though there was a small voice in the back of his head that provoked his anxiety that there was indeed a very large chance that his dad wouldn't become the Sheriff and would instead drink himself into the bottom of the bottle each night, which was becoming the most realistic reality.

"That's cool" Scott said in a monotone and was clearly not interested, making Stiles frown,

"So your dad upset you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, putting the pieces together slowly,

Scott simply nodded, eyes drifting away from Stiles own, and Stiles felt kinda sorry for him,

"Why are you here anyways?" He questioned, now moving over to sit in the blue plastic chair beside him, and this time Scott looked up,

"My mom," Scott started, and Stiles heartbeat picked up a little, "she's a nurse here" was the ending of his sentence and Stiles heartbeat had seemed to go back to normal again — for now.

"That is cool" Stiles smiled, and Scott smiled too,

"How come you're here?" Scott asked, and Stiles shifted in his seat uncomfortably, not being able to find the strength to look him in the eyes, his gaze drifted around the room,

"I'm here for my mom too" he said quietly, and he felt his heart beat hard against his bruised ribs, and he wanted to cry all of a sudden, but he felt embarrassed to do so in front of his new friend Scott, but it was like his lungs were being squeezed and it hurt so bad — but he had to be brave for some many people now.

He was thankful that Scott didn't ask why or what for or didn't ask half as many questions that Stiles had asked that night, but instead placed his own hand over his clenching one that was squeezed against the blue plastic of the arm chair that was turning his knuckles white, and gave a reassuring smile, a warm sympathetic one that made Stiles a little less scared and maybe a little bit more brave - and that night he was thankful for certain distractions.


End file.
